Today was an exhausting day! Managed to see a lot though :) we got up at 8:00 and went and had breakfast downstairs in our hotel. We've stayed here over a week and this is the first time we've been up in time for free breakfast! Not that we were ever missing out, it was only a baguette with jam but it's good that we only pay $6 each for this!

At 9:00 the receptionist got us a Moto, only one turned up? With one helmet! He wanted both of us to get on so I went in the middle with the helmet and Annie scooched on the back! I could hardly breathe I was squashed in and not being able to see where we were going wasn't in the least bit scary!
Annie was nearly falling off of the back so I couldnt move at all I had to sit there for 30minutes and try to not complain, easier said than done when theres 3 of you plummeting over train tracks at 50mph!

Toni told me later on that it IS illegal for three people on a moto and to ride without a helmet! Thank god there was no police then, but we didn't know! It cost us £1.50 though so can't complain and our limbs remain intact! Luckily!

He dropped us off at the Mausoleum, where the Kings Sarcophagus is on display! Its a huge marble building, only open 9:00am until 11:00am so difficult to get in when the que winds around three blocks and takes over three hours!! Clearly we thought everyone was just exaggerating but they really weren't, it was THE longest que I've ever seen in my life! No way were we willing to que in the scorching hot sun for that length of time, we were also wrapped up as you have to dress appropriately and be covered up! So maybe we will go to the Mauselium another day, maybe a weekday will be less busy?

So instead we went to the museum next door for a few hours. It has random bits of everything inside, they have an exhibition dedicated again, to the king, where you see the royal jewellery and random peices of silver. They have galleries of famous Vietnamese artists on display and also have an exhibition dedicated to the war too! There's lots to see here but there's too many people! I think everyone in their had the same intentions of seeing the mausoleum like us, but then decided against queing for so long!

After the museum we then went for a walk around the park gardens outside, and stopped for a drink at a stall under a tree! The gardens are really well kept and it's a really nice chilled place to be in the sun :) great hangover cure!

Later we walked to One Pillar Pagoda, one of the most iconic Buddhist temples of Vietnam! It was built in 1049 by the emperor, who was told by a monk to build it based on a dream he had! It's beautiful and built in the middle of a lotus pond, if it wasn't swarming with sightseers it would be such a peaceful, tranquil place! Around one side of the pond there's a few benches where we sat and relaxed for a while under the shade of the trees, listening to all the birds chirping, away from the tourists!

We only walked around the pond and didn't go inside the pagoda as again there were too many tourist getting their prayers on...

After this we then walked even further to try and find the kings statue, we thought it was nearby but clearly not! We walked 10 blocks before we gave up, we've already seen statues of the king, they have them in the museum but this was supposed to be a huge one erected centuries ago! Oh well! Nothing too spesh!

We then took a Moto home again, three people, one helmet and mild palpitations!

Toni and Lee wanted to show us a Rooftop Bar tonight so we met them later at GC bar. GC on a Saturday night is absolutely packed, boiling hot and loud! As always a friendly atmosphere though :) we had a few beers in there and then Me and Annie took a taxi to Rooftop!

Lots of police were out with it being Saturday and Lee didn't bring a spare helmet, so four riders and three helmets wouldn't have gone down well! The taxi driver dropped us at the wrong hotel and we had no idea where we were going so we then started walking even further in the wrong direction! Until I heard Lee running down the street after us screaming mg name! Bless her!

The elevators in the hotel are like something from a sci-fi! You enter the floor you want to be at and it tells you which elevator to walk to... Technology like this is far too posh for me and Annie!

When we arrived upstairs it looked amazing, it's clean and very modern and the people are very good looking, classy, rich and mainly Asians! A complete opposite from walking in off of the busy dirty streets of Hanoi! The music's good too they have a crazy live dj playing current house and r and b music! Annie loved getting her slut drop on ;)

Outside the view of Hanoi is great too, the river, the lake and all the hotel buildings all light up like fairy lights! Totes romantic! The drinks are the most expensive in here though too, the cheapest is a small sex on the beach for £5!

We stayed here quite a while and slowly sipped our two drinks before going to Solace bar to dance the night away...

Lee said that as we're white the police won't stop us on moto's because they don't speak English and can't be bothered with filling in paperwork so I should take Annie on the back of Toni's bike and then Toni could ride with Lee with the helmets!

I'd already had four drinks and didn't fancy riding an expensive bike through the busy Saturday night traffic in the city with Annie screaming away on the back! So seen as Toni speaks Thai, he could pretend to be a tourist so I got on his bike and then Annie took the helmet with Lee!

We drove out of the city and just got onto the freeway when two police bikes pulled up either side of our bike and told us to pull over, Toni said "oh s***" but I didn't think we were doing anything wrong?

The four policemen, armed with guns and truncheons were arguing with Toni in Vietnamese while we were all stood at the side of the road, when Annie and Lee caught up to us and drove past.
I thought to myself, I don't even know Annie's new mobile number for when I get my one free call in prison! What if they send me to the old war prison from the other day, I don't want to die from Salmonella! And no chance am I crawling through an underground drain pipe to escape!

But they wouldn't have arrested us, the police are just after making a quick dollar they're not interested in having to go through legalities! Knowing this, Toni offered them 100,000.00Dong (£3) to which they laughed at him and said that it's not about the money! So he then pulled out another 100,000.00Dong note which they took straight away and then drive off!!

Thieving robbing gypsies!! I think I would have rather served my time in punishment than give them £6!! For the rest of the night I was scared incase we got pulled over again as me and Toni had now ran out of money! So no more bribery for us! Still, couldn't afford a taxi either so had no other option!

We made it to Solace bar without being arrested anymore! Phew! Danced with more crazy Asian geeks in a dance off in the middle of the boat! No more dwarfs after annie tonight... I think she secretly misses the attention though! ;) when we were outside on the balcony I rested my elbows on a coffee table and felt something brushing up and down my arm... I thought it was my bracelets as I've accumulated 15 now from all the places we've been! It was a cockroach! A huge, fat, dirty, greasy, tentacle, scurrying, foraging ACTUAL cockroach on my arm! I nearly jumped overboard into the river to get it off! After this I started noticing quite a lot of them outside, gross!

After Solace closed in the wee early hours we drive home, very slowly and on the look out for Policia! We were starving so went to the only stall that was open for noodle soup! Kept this one down this time too! They also had the fried bread dumpling things that you dip into the soup here too, we had them in Cambodia and me Annie love them! I can't remember what they're called though, il have to ask Lee again but we ended up eating 6 between the two if us!! Fatties :D